Brad Pitt has spoken candidly about how he dealt with depression in the 1990s before turning his life around when he witnessed poverty in Morocco.

The 48-year-old Hollywood star made some of his biggest movies during the decade, including Fight Club, 12 Monkeys, and Seven, but said he became "sick of myself" towards the end of it.

He told the Hollywood Reporter: "I was hiding out from the celebrity thing, I was smoking way too much dope. I was sitting on the couch and just turning into a doughnut, and I really got irritated with myself. I got to: 'What's the point? I know better than this.'"

Pitt added: "I used to deal with depression, but I don't now, not this decade – maybe last decade. But that's also figuring out who you are. I see it as a great education, as one of the seasons or a semester: 'This semester I was majoring in depression.'

"I was doing the same thing every night and numbing myself to sleep, the same routine. Couldn't wait to get home and hide out. But that feeling of unease was growing and one night I just said, 'This is a waste.'"

His decision to "get off the couch" was spurred by a trip to Casablanca where he saw "poverty to an extreme I had never witnessed before." Pitt said: "It stuck with me."

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Rethink Mental Illness, a mental health charity, said the actor was "brave" for opening up about the subject of depression.

Spokesman Mark Davies said: "When people in the public eye talk about mental illness, it sends a powerful message to all who face it at some point in their lives.

"Brad Pitt's story shows that it is possible to recover from depression, which will give many people renewed hope. We commend Brad Pitt for speaking so bravely and openly about his experiences."

Pitt received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor earlier this week for his role in the baseball film Moneyball. The actor also suggested he and Anjelina Jolie, his partner of seven years, are thinking about marriage. He told The Hollywood Reporter: "We'd actually like to, and it seems to mean more and more to our kids."